The Band Wins the Best Feature Documentary Film Award at the Festival des Cinemas Arabes a Paris

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The Band Wins the Best Feature Documentary Film Award at the Festival des Cinemas Arabes a Paris


Iraqi director Albaqer Jafeer's film The Band won the Arab World Institute's Best Feature Documentary Film Award at the Festival des Cinémas Arabes à Paris (Arab Cinema Festival in Paris), France that ended its activities on Saturday, July 7. This marks the film's third award after winning the Karama Feather Award for Best Documentary Film at the Karama Human Rights Film Festival and a Special Mention at the Oran International Arabic Film Festival in Algeria.

Written and directed by Albaqer Jafeer, The Band is distributed in the Arab world by MAD Solutions. The film tells the story of Hulm Band that is made up of six musicians who are sparing no efforts to fulfill their dream of playing Sufi music in their hometown, Sadr city in Iraq. They only face one dilemma which lies in the fact that they can get murdered for playing music in a city where music is forbidden. In 67 minutes, the film follows the band members as they open up to the film's director, Albaqer Jafeer, on their dreams, aspirations and the reality in which they find themselves.

Albaqar Jafeer is an Iraqi director who studied filmmaking at the Iraqi Independent Film Center in 2009. Later on, Jafeer participated in filmmaking workshops inside and outside Baghdad where he studied screenwriting, directing, editing and production management. Albaqar Jafeer's filmography includes the short documentary film Rafa't Alam (Rising the Flag) and Ghorbat Ghajar (Strangeness of the Gypsies) and the experimental film 50mm Lens. The Band is Jafeer's debut feature documentary film.